Supply reel for continuous laying of pipelines

ABSTRACT

A reel mountable for rotation about a vertical axis on a supporting base for supplying long continuous lengths of relatively large diameter pipe for continuous laying of pipelines, particularly marine pipelines, said reel comprising an upwardly and inwardly tapering frustoconical hub and upper and lower horizontally disposed flanges.

United States Patent Inventors Daniel E. Sugall New Orleans, La.; Larry Rayner Russell; Fred W. Schaejbe, both at Boudoir, Tex. Appl. No. 5,840 Filed Jan. 26, 1970 Patented Dec. 28, 1971 Assignee Fluor Ocean Services, Inc. Houston, Tex.

SUPPLY REEL FOR CONTINUOUS LAYING OF PIPELINES 8 Claims, 5 1mm; Figs.

242/77, 242/865, 242/128, 254/134.3 so in. c1. B65l| 75/00 run of Search 242/77,

[56] RelereneeaCited uNmzo STATES PATENTS 3,021,092 2/1962 \Vhearley..' 242/128 3,282,518 11/1966 Holmes 242/128X Primary Examiner-Stanley N. Gilreath Assistant Examiner-Milton Gerstein Attorneys-Michael P. Breston, R. Werlin and Alfred B.

Levine ABSTRACT: A reel mountable for rotation about a vertical axis on a supporting base for supplying long continuous lengths of relatively large diameter pipe for continuous laying of pipelines, particularly marine pipelines, said reel comprising an upwardly and inwardly tapering frustoconical hub and upper and lower horizontally disposed flangee.

Patent ed Dc. 28, 1971 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Daniel E. Sugast/ Larry R. Russell Fred W. Schaejbe FIG.3

IN VE N TORS ATTORNEY SUPPLY REEL FOR CONTINUOUS LAYING OF PIPELINES Laying of long lines of metal pipe from a lay barge or other vessel for gathering of oil and gas from wells in marine locations is now a quite common operation. Where the pipe is of relatively small diameter, up to about 6 inches, procedures and apparatus have been developed for coiling long lengths of the pipe about a reel and then uncoiling and feeding the pipe from the reel during the course of laying the pipeline. The reels of pipe could thus be prepared and loaded on shore and transferred to the lay barge or the like for unwinding during the pipe-laying operation, thus greatly reducing the time and costs involved as compared with other more conventional procedures.

Tesson US. Pat. Nos. 3,237,438 and 3,372,461 disclose a method and apparatus employing the precoiled reel of pipe system for laying marine pipelines. These patents disclose a reel construction adapted to be mounted horizontally on a lay barge for rotation about a vertical axis, together with apparatus for bending the pipe to proper radius for coiling the pipe about the reel, for then unbending the pipe as it is removed from the reel, and to remove the twisting deflections produced in the uncoiled pipe in order that the pipe will be straight when laid on the marine bottom.

The method and apparatus of the Tesson patents have been successfully employed for laying lines of pipe up to about 6 inches in diameter. However, in adapting the Tesson system to the much larger diameter pipe now often required to be laid, it is found that the existing reel designs are deficient in many respects.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a reel construction adapted for taking coiled pipe of much larger diameter than has heretofore been possible; for example, 12 inches, and from which such larger diameter pipe may be continuously fed to the pipeline being laid.

In accordance with this invention, a reel construction is provided which is designed to be horizontally disposed on the deck of a vessel, such as a lay barge, and arranged for rotation about a vertical axis. The reel includes an upwardly tapering conical hollow core or hub secured to upper and lower annular flanges and rotatably supported on a base which may be the deck of the vessel. The lower flange carries a plurality of radially spaced concentric pads which ride on corresponding concentric rows of rollers mounted on the base and a central hub guide carrying radial rollers engageable with the bore wall of the lower end of the reel hub. The wall of the latter is constructed of reinforced concrete encased between spaced-apart concentric steel plates to provide the structural strength required for supporting the several layers of pipe coiled about hub. A drive chain is mounted about the lower flange for engagement by a power-operated drive sprocket for rotating the reel.

Other and more specific objects and advantages of this invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing which illustrates one useful embodiment in accordance with this invention:

In the drawing:

FIG. I is a perspective view of the deck of a lay barge on which is mounted a reel in accordance with this invention, together with a generalized layout of conventional auxiliary devices employed in connection with the reel;

FIG. 2 is a vertical partly sectional view of the reel taken along line 2-2 of FIG. I;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing a modified arrangement for storing two different size pipes on the reel;

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the reel taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is a detail taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

Referring to the drawing, areel, designated generally by the numeral 10, is shown horizontally disposed for rotation about its vertical axis on the deck D of a generally conventional pipe-laying barge B which carries known types of bending and tensioning apparatus A and T, the pipe P leaving the latter being guided to pass over a ramp R in its movement into the water body in which the pipe is being laid.

As best seen in FIG. 4, the reel comprises an upwardly and inwardly tapering frustoconical hollow hub, designated generally by the numeral 11, an annular upper or roof flange, designated generally by the numeral 12, secured about the upper end of hub 11 and an annular lower or floor flange 13, secured about the lower end of hub 1].

Hub 11 is fabricated from concentric radially spaced inner and outer steel plates I4 and 15, respectively, the space between the plates being filled with strongly reinforced concrete 16 to provide a strong structure. The taper or slope of hub 11 is selected to be within the range from about 15 to about 20 with respect to the vertical to assure optimum pipesupporting and load characteristics as will appear subsequently. I

Roof flange 12 and floor flange 13 are fabricated from plate and beam elements in the known manner to provide appropriate load characteristics to meet the requirements of the structure. I

A plurality of concentric, radially spaced, annular pads 20 are mounted beneath floor flange 13. These pads are adapted to ride on registering rows of rollers 21 each journaled in a pedestal 22 supported on deck D.

A pivot or centering guide for the reel is formed by means of a plurality of pedestals 24 mounted on deck D angularly spaced about a circle so as to extend upwardly into the bore of hub 11. Each of the pedestals 24 has a radially outwardly extending fork 25 at its upper end. A roller 26 is journaled about a vertical axis between the arms of the fork to rollably engage a circular bearing plate 27 mounted to the bottom of inner wall plate 14 of the hub.

The upper end of the hub is closed by means of an annular extension 28 of roof flange I2 having a central manway 29 therein.

The outer periphery of floor flange I3 is provided with a depending channel-shaped annular skirt 30 to the exterior of which is mounted a drive chain 31 of conventional form which extends entirely around the periphery of the floor flange and is arranged to be engaged by a known type of power-driven drive gear or sprocket (not shown). A spray shield 32 is secured to skirt 30 to enclose the space between floor flange l3 and deck D.

The mean external diameter of hub 11 will be made such as to provide a bending radius which will not exceed the ultimate plastic bending limit of the pipe to be wound thereon. A mean external diameter of about 50 feet will be suitable for pipe of 4-, 6- and 8-inch diameters and such pipe can be wound directly on the reel as illustrated in FIG. 2. As used herein, the ultimate plastic bending limit means the maximum extent to which the pipe may be plastically bent around the hub without being stressed to failure or permanent deformation.

For pipe larger in diameter than 8 inches, the average diameter of the hub can be increased to a larger diameter if necessary to avoid exceeding the ultimate plastic bending limits of the larger pipe, by first wrapping the requisite number of layers of smaller diameter pipe about the hub to attain the desired enlarged diameter hub lla, as seen in FIG. 3.

Thereafter, the larger diameter pipe P can be wrapped about the enlarged hub 11a. For 12-inch diameter pipe this mean diameter will be about 66 or 67 feet.

The slope or taper of the core is found to be quite important. Since the layers are wound starting from the bottom to the top and then downwardly from the top to the bottom, the taper is important to enable the coils of pipe in one layer to provide support against downward slippage of the coils of pipe in the next overlying layer. If the angle of taper is too steep, the coils of pipe will tend to slip down over the underlying coils. If the taper is too shallow or flat, then the total weight bearing against the hub may exceed the load supporting capacity of the hub. Accordingly, it is found that the optimum taper for a reel hub designed to carry pipe of up to 12-inch diameter is in the range from about l5 to about 20 with respect to the vertical.

Other considerations favoring this optimum taper are that too flat a slope may make the outside diameter of the lower flange too great for space considerations on the vessel deck, while making the outside diameter of the upper end of the hub too small for the bending capabilities of the larger diameter pipes. Also the smaller the angle the stronger the reel, while the flatter the angle the greater the component of pipe weight which must be supported by the hub stiffeners.

A reel constructed in accordance with this invention will contain as much as 19,000 feet of 12-inch pipe and much greater lengths of smaller diameter pipes, as determined by their diameters, thus greatly reducing the time and labor required for laying long pipelines in difficult locations, particularly marine locations.

The tapered hub feature of the herein described reel is also advantageous for smaller diameter pipes in that it obviates the need for cumbersome supporting hangers during the downwrap on the reel and thereby facilitates and speeds the winding operation.

It will be understood that various alterations and modifications may be made in the details of the illustrative embodiment without departing from the spirit of this invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A pipe supply reel for continuous laying of pipelines, comprising in combination with a horizontally disposed base:

a. a hollow upwardly and inwardly tapering frustoconical hub mounted on the base for rotation about its vertical axis;

b. horizontally disposed upper and lower annular flanges secured respectively about the upper and lower ends of said hub;

c. roller means mounted on the base to extend upwardly into rolling supporting engagement with said lower flange;

d. pivot means mounted on the base and extending into the bore of the hub into centering engagement with the inner wall of said bore; and

e. drive-engaging means circumferentially mounted to said lower flange.

2. A pipe supply reel according to claim 1 wherein the angle of taper of said hub is in the range from about 15 to about 20 with respect to the vertical.

3. A pipe supply reel according to claim 1 including a plurality of concentric, radially spaced, annular bearing pads secured to said lower flange in alignment with said roller means.

4. A pipe supply reel according to claim 1 wherein said pivot means comprises:

a. a plurality of pedestals angularly spaced on a circle concentric with the bore of the lower end of said hub; and

b. rollers journaled in the upper ends of said pedestals. and extending radially therefrom into rolling engagement with the bore wall of said hub.

5. A pipe supply reel according to claim 1 wherein the wall of said hub comprises:

a. a pair of concentric, spaced-apart steel sheets; and

b. a body of reinforced concrete filling the space between said sheets.

6. A pipe supply reel according to claim 1 wherein said drive-engaging means comprises a chain belt.

7. A pipe supply reel according to claim 1 including a channel-shaped skirt depending from the outer periphery of said lower flange and supporting said drive-engaging means.

8. A pipe supply reel for continuous laying of pipelines, comprising:

a. a vertically disposed hollow upwardly and inwardly tapering frustoconical hub;

b. horizontally disposed upper and lower annular flanges secured respectively about the upper and lower ends of said hub;

c. centering pivot means extending into the lower end of said hub for movable engagement therewith; and

d. drive-engaging means circumferentially mounted to said 

1. A pipe supply reel for continuous laying of pipelines, comprising in combination with a horizontally disposed base: a. a hollow upwardly and inwardly tapering frustoconical hub mounted on the base for rotation about its vertical axis; b. horizontally disposed upper and lower annular flanges secured respectively about the upper and lower ends of said hub; c. roller means mounted on the base to extend upwardly into rolling supporting engagement with said lower flange; d. pivot means mounted on the base and extending into the bore of the hub into centering engagement with the inner wall of said bore; and e. drive-engaging means circumferentially mounted to said lower flange.
 2. A pipe supply reel according to claim 1 wherein the angle of taper of said hub is in the range from about 15* to about 20* with respect to the vertical.
 3. A pipe supply reel according to claim 1 including a plurality of concentric, radially spaced, annular bearing pads secured to said lower flange in alignment with said roller means.
 4. A pipe supply reel according to claim 1 wherein said pivot means comprises: a. a plurality of pedestals angularly spaced on a circle concentric with the bore of the lower end of said hub; and b. rollers journalled in the upper ends of said pedestals and exTending radially therefrom into rolling engagement with the bore wall of said hub.
 5. A pipe supply reel according to claim 1 wherein the wall of said hub comprises: a. a pair of concentric, spaced-apart steel sheets; and b. a body of reinforced concrete filling the space between said sheets.
 6. A pipe supply reel according to claim 1 wherein said drive-engaging means comprises a chain belt.
 7. A pipe supply reel according to claim 1 including a channel-shaped skirt depending from the outer periphery of said lower flange and supporting said drive-engaging means.
 8. A pipe supply reel for continuous laying of pipelines, comprising: a. a vertically disposed hollow upwardly and inwardly tapering frustoconical hub; b. horizontally disposed upper and lower annular flanges secured respectively about the upper and lower ends of said hub; c. centering pivot means extending into the lower end of said hub for movable engagement therewith; and d. drive-engaging means circumferentially mounted to said lower flange. 